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New bridge will link Council Bluffs and Omaha riverfront

May 12, 2006 By

A new pedestrian bridge will span the Missouri River. Chosen from several proposals, this design by a Kansas City architect will link Council Bluffs and Omaha with a winding 200-foot-long S-shaped span that runs from the levee in Council Bluffs to the Omaha riverfront.

Omaha mayor Mike Fahey says they’ll start building it before the end of the year. Fahey says it has been a long journey with its share of advancements and setbacks to get to this point. But thanks to the vision, dedication and perseverance of every body involved, we are now closer than ever to building what will be the centerpiece for our Riverfront Development, and an all-inspiring gateway to our two cities.”

The price limit for the bridge was 22-Million dollars, and there’s 17-Million in government money to do it. The rest of the cost will be paid with money that’s raised privately. The bridge should be complete in late 2008.

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Water "pulse" to hit Missouri River tonight

May 12, 2006 By

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has picked today as the date to release a surge of water down the Missouri River. That “pulse” is intended to simulate the high water of spring runoff in an effort to encourage the endangered pallid sturgeon to increase in numbers. Corps spokesman Paul Johnston says it’ll begin late tonight.

At midnight Friday night, they’ll increase the releases of water from Gavins Point Dam, and keep it increasing through Saturday till reaching the full height of the “pulse,” 9-thousand cubic feet per second, and then start bringing it back down to minimum navigation levels on Tuesday.

This was supposed to be the second of two such events, but in March there wasn’t enough in the reservoir up-river to release any. That first pulse was designed to clean mud off the gravel beds the fish prefer, and the second when the weather warmed a bit was to give the sturgeon their cue to start the spawning process.

The Iowa Corn Growers Association sent a news release charging the Corps of Engineers with “choosing the potential interests of a fish over the certain needs of Iowans,” but no risk of flooding is expected from the “pulse” coming downstream this weekend. Johnston says the effect of drought hasn’t ended and the river’s still lower than normal.

The runoff for the year is still only 88-percent of normal, Johnston says, “so it’s too early to say that the drought is over.” He expects the pulse to raise the river at Sioux City and Council Bluffs by two to two and-a-half feet, but then the rise will taper off as the water’s flow moves on downriver into central Missouri. The Corps puts out a daily river-level forecast, and he says it shows the diminishing effect of the “pulse” in the river’s flow.

Kansas City when the pulse comes through will be a foot lower next week than it is today, he says, and just outside St. Louis, Missouri, the river will be four feet lower with the pulse in place than it is today. Johnston says passersby at Sioux City and Council Bluffs won’t be able to tell the pulse is passing down the river.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation

Sioux City Explorers begin season in new league

May 12, 2006 By

The Sioux City Explorers open a new season in a new league, tonight, when they host St. Paul. After being part of the Northern League since 1993 the Explorers are now part of the American Association independent league and play in the North division with St. Paul, St. Joe, Lincoln and Sioux Falls.

The south division has three teams in Texas along with a team in Shreveport, Louisiana and Pensacola, Florida.

Ed Nottle who returns as Sioux City manager says the two leagues should do well in the next couple of years. Nottle says though the league may demand that some franchises upgrade.

He says most of the games will be against division foes with two trips to Forth Worth and Pensacola. Nottle says this team is a mix of veterans and newcomers, which he says is the norm in the league as you’re only allowed so many veterans. A fireworks show will also be part of opening night.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:

Attorney General files motion to enforce tobacco settlement

May 12, 2006 By

Iowa’s top consumer official filed a motion Thursday to enforce terms of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. Attorney General’s spokesman Bob Brammer says at issue is whether payments on that 755-Million-dollar settlement could be trimmed back.

When the tobacco companies agreed with the states in 1998 to change their practices, he says they also agreed to make yearly payments to the states every April. There are a couple ways they could be entitled to adjustments in how large those payments are, and some are disputing the payments now and a few are even putting money not into the mail but into a “disputed-payment account.”

He says it’ll have to be resolved in the courts, and the Attorney general’s office on Thursday filed a motion with the Polk County court saying the state’s entitled to a full payment the same as it’s been for years. At issue is a footnote that said other companies not part of the lawsuit should still make payments, putting them into an escrow account even if they weren’t a part of the Master Settlement Agreement. The big-name tobacco companies are charging states didn’t make the other companies comply, but Brammer says Iowa did hold them to it.

“Diligently enforced” are the words of the agreement, and he says the big companies charge the states didn’t enforce the payments into those escrow accounts, a plan they settled on because somebody down the line those other companies may also be targeted in a similar suit and also because it’s not fair that they could sell cigarettes for a far lower price because they don’t bear the burden of paying off that Master Settlement Agreement.

In any event, the state’s position is that it has indeed “diligently enforced” that part of the agreement, and now it’s up to the courts to tell the tobacco companies to send the small disputed portion of their payment to the state. It may be a small share, but just the amount witheld from this month’s payment to Iowa comes to a million and-a-half dollars.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With:

Police release 9-1-1 tape from Le Mars shooting

May 12, 2006 By

Police have released Wednesday night’s 9-1-1 call from a neighbor in LeMars who tipped authorities off to what has now been confirmed as a triple-murder/suicide. After the 9-1-1 operator answers, a woman says “help! Help! There’s people across the street and I think there’s something really bad.”

The woman is clearly upset and recounts for the operator what she saw. “We walked over there because nobody was answering the phone…I think they’re dead.” The 9-1-1 operator asked for more information: “Can you see anybody or what?” The women quickly responded: “Yes. I saw through the garage window. Please, just get the cops here.” The woman told the operator she lived directly across the street from the family, which police have confirmed were the Haydens.

Authorities say 38-year-old Timothy Hayden, shot his 15-year-old daughter Lyndsey, 17-year-old son Shawn and his wife Marilyn Hayden before taking his own life.

The neighbor pleaded for the cops to come to the house quickly. “Oh, I think, I think they’re dead,” the neighbor said. “All right. All right. We’ll get ‘em right there,” the operator said.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Board of Education approves model curriculum

May 12, 2006 By

The State Board of Education has approved a model curriculum for Iowa high schools that’s designed to help administrators and teachers transform courses so students learn “essential” skills. Pam Pfitzenmaier, administrator of the Iowa Department of Education’s pre-school through 12th grade division, served on the committee that developed the curriculum over the past six months.

“It doesn’t say which courses these skills and content items need to be found in but certainly the new requirements for graduation that the legislature established this year — of four years of English, three years of science, three years of social studies (and) three years of mathematics — the model core curriculum can weave into those courses,” Pfitzemnmaier says.

It’s not a daily lesson plan, but is a list of ideas or skills that students should master. “It gives to a school district…the things that ‘thou must cover’ in our opinion, now this isn’t required that they do it but in the opinion of the task force…these are the essential pieces that students should know and be able to do when they graduate,” she says.

The task force was made up of teachers, students, administrators, college professors and business leaders. Pfitzenmaier says the idea is to ensure students leave high school equipped with the skills they’ll need in college and the world world, especially the ability to think critically.

There are sample lesson plans in the packet developed by the task force which Pfitzenmaier says will “help teachers see how they can improve both rigor, relevance and the relationships the students can have with each other and the school.”

For example, the task force says high school science courses should encourage students to question and explore and math classes should give students a deeper understanding of basic concepts like algebra, geometry and problem solving. You can see the document the task force created on-line at http://www.iowa.gov/educate/ecese/hsmcc/documents.html.

Related web sites:
Board of Education model curriculum

Filed Under: Education

Warm Southern weather causing storms in Midwest

May 12, 2006 By

A meteorologist with the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, says it has been a busy year already for the midwest when it comes to tornadoes. Dan McCarthy says the midwest’s severe weather gets its start in the south. McCarthy says this is the highest number of tornado reports since 1999 and he says that’s due to the south and southwest having extremely warm temperatures.

McCarthy says the warm temperatures kept the waters in the Gulf of Mexico warm. He says that ends up bringing enough moisture northward that we get very frequent periods of severe weather in March and May in the midwest. McCarthy says Iowa has already had 39 tornado reports this year — but the latest weather patter might give us a reprieve.

McCarthy says a huge upper level low over the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley will cool things down and give us below normal temperatures. While the cooler weather will keep the thunderstorms at bay for awhile, McCarthy says you shouldn’t drop your guard as late May and early June is the peak tornado time for Iowa.

Filed Under: Weather
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